June 28, 2012

A three-time thousand-yard
rusher in college who could also catch the ball out of the backfield, Dunn was
chosen by the Bucs in the first round of the 1997 NFL draft (12th
overall). With great speed and elusiveness, but considered too small to be an
every-down back, he proved to be the ideal complement to second-year RB Mike
Alstott, a classic fullback.

Buccaneers went 10-6 to
finish second in the NFC Central and qualify for the postseason as a wild card.
Won NFC Wild Card playoff over Detroit Lions (20-10). Lost NFC Divisional
playoff to Green Bay Packers (21-7).

Aftermath:

Dunn followed up his
outstanding rookie season with his first of an eventual five thousand-yard
rushing totals in 1998 (1026). The ground total dropped to 616 yards in 1999,
but he led the team with 64 pass receptions, for 589 yards. He was selected to
a second Pro Bowl in 2000, rushing for 1133 yards and gaining 1555 yards from
scrimmage, and caught 68 passes in ’01 (although he averaged only 2.8 yards per
carry rushing), after which he moved on to the Atlanta Falcons as a free agent.
After gaining 1304 yards from scrimmage in 2002, he was limited to 11 games by
injury in ’03 but bounced back to have three straight thousand-yard rushing
seasons, including a career-high 1416 at age 30 in 2005. He also achieved a
career-best 1636 yards from scrimmage and was chosen to a third Pro Bowl. Dunn
played for Atlanta thru 2007 and finished up
with one last year back in TampaBay in ’08, running for
786 yards and catching 47 passes. Overall, he rushed for a career total of
10,967 yards on 2669 carries (4.1 avg.) and caught 510 passes for 4339 yards,
giving him 15,306 yards from scrimmage - which ranked 14th in NFL history
up to that point - and 64 touchdowns.

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Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were named Rookie of the Year in
the NFL, AFL (1960-69), or USFL (1983-85) by a recognized organization
(Associated Press – Offense or Defense, Newspaper Enterprise Association,
United Press International, The Sporting News, or the league itself – Pepsi NFL
Rookie of the Year).